Richard Petty Motorsports announced today that they will field Aric Almirola in the legendary #43 car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2012. Details of the deal and an interview with all parties involved is below. - Captain Thunder - www.CaptainThunderRacing.com

ARIC ALMIROLA – No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Fusion – “I’m
very, very excited about this opportunity to not only drive the
historic and iconic 43 car, but to work with all the people here at
Richard Petty Motorsports.  I had the privilege last year of sitting
on the couch on Sundays and watching the races and I saw how
competitive their race cars were on a weekly basis and that was a big
factor in making the decision to come over here to Richard Petty
Motorsports.  Their competition on the race track was very, very high
and that gives me an opportunity to get in a race car that I know is
very competitive, and where I’ve just got to go out and do my job and
the results will come.  It’s a great opportunity for me.  I’m a little
bit sad leaving where I left.  I had a good home there with Junior
Motorsports, but it was important for me to have their support to come
and do this.  I talked with Dale and Kelley quite a bit throughout
this whole process and they supported me 100 percent.  Dale said that
was the main reason for him having a Nationwide team was to get guys
in the Nationwide car at his shop and to give them an opportunity to
go and make a career out of racing in NASCAR.  For me, that’s come
true.  He gave me a great opportunity to go there and drive the 88 car
and that’s led to this opportunity here at RPM.  Like he said, if
anything, it gives JRM credibility as a Nationwide team that they can
take not only Brad but now myself and move them into their program and
out of their program and on to a Cup ride.  I’m very thankful for
everything Junior Motorsports has done for me in my career and I’m
excited about my new adventure here at Richard Petty Motorsports.”

HOW LONG DID THIS PROCESS TAKE?  “It was pretty quick, but I’d say
it’s about a year-and-a-half in the making.  I got the privilege to
drive here at the end of 2010 when I ran five races in the 9 car and
got to work with a lot of the people here at Richard Petty Motorsports
then and had a lot of fun driving that car at that time and built a
relationship with Brian and Robbie Loomis and Sammy Johns and RP and
Dale Inman and all those people that were involved in Richard Petty
Motorsports.  I’d say that had a lot to do with it.  Even though this
process went rather quickly this time around, I’ve had a lot of
experience working with these guys already in the past, so it didn’t
seem as big of a whirlwind just because of the experience I already
had working with them.”

WHAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP DO YOU HAVE WITH MARCOS AMBROSE?  “That’s
actually funny.  Me and Marcos actually started racing in the Truck
Series at the exact same time, so we’ve been friends on and off the
race track through that.  We talked a lot when we were racing in the
Truck Series together.  I’ve watched him go on to Cup racing and have
kept up with him and see him throughout the garage.  I’ve always had a
friendly relationship with him and I respect him a lot as a race car
driver, so I’m excited to be his teammate now.”

BRIAN MOFFITT, CEO, Richard Petty Motorsports – WHAT DID YOU SEE IN
BRIAN IN 2010 THAT MADE YOU LOOK AT HIM FOR THIS RIDE AND WHAT’S THE
SITUATION ON SPONSORSHIP FOR THE CAR?  “We saw a lot of potential in
Aric and have watched him closely at Junior Motorsports throughout.
Richard always said if we had an opportunity that he was somebody he
would like to be in the 43.  We got everybody together here at Richard
Petty Motorsports – Sammy, Todd Parrott, who is still with us, and, of
course, Greg Erwin, and went down the list and Aric was the top choice
for us.  As far as sponsorship, we will be making announcements in the
coming weeks for the 43.  We’re poised for a two-car operation as
Richard mentioned earlier and we’re real excited about having Aric
pilot the 43 for us.”

ARE YOU STILL LOOKING FOR FUNDING OR ARE YOU ALL SET?  “We do have
some open inventory on the car, but we will be announcing some new
partners in the coming weeks.”

ARIC ALMIROLA CONTINUED – HOW DOES IT FEEL TO HAVE A FULL-TIME RIDE
THAT IS AS STABLE AS ANYTHING YOU’VE HAD IN THE PAST?  “Like I said,
this is a great opportunity for me.  You take the last couple of
years, I felt like a few years ago I had the opportunity to go Cup
racing, but it wasn’t at this level.  There were a lot of moving parts
going on and it didn’t end up working out, but I went back and went
Truck racing and ran very competitive in the Truck Series and won two
races and finished second in the points, and then that same year was
the year I got to run five races in the 9 car and ran rather well for
being, quite honestly, my first time at a lot of those race tracks in
a Cup car.  So taking all of that and then moving that to the
Nationwide deal last year with Junior Motorsports, we didn’t run as
great as we wanted to, but we ran good.  I think we had eight
top-fives and 17 or 18 top-10s and we finished fourth in the points,
so we had a respectable year, and I think taking all of that knowledge
and stuff I’ve learned over the last two or three years has done
nothing but make me a better race car driver.  So to have the
opportunity to get in as good of equipment as I’m getting in now, I’m
really excited about it.  I feel like I’m a way better race car driver
than I am now than I was three years ago, so I feel like I’ll be able
to make the most of this opportunity.”

WHAT’S THE TOUGHEST THING ABOUT ADJUSTING TO A NEW TEAM?  “I’m getting
pretty good at it.  That’s been the thing is I have been with quite a
few teams, I’ve probably been with a handful of teams, and I think the
biggest thing for me is I worked with Gibbs and I worked with DEI and
now I’ve worked with Junior Motorsports and Hendrick collectively, and
then now with Richard Petty Motorsports and obviously their
affiliation with Roush Fenway.  The biggest thing for me is I’ve been
fortunate to work with really high quality teams.  I’ve had the
opportunity that most people would beg for and I’ve been very
fortunate to get those opportunities.  This is another one of those.
I think even you guys in the media can’t discount what Marcos and AJ
did last year.  They were very competitive on the race track and ran
in the top 10 a lot, the top-five a lot and Marcos went to Victory
Lane.  Me as a 27-year-old kid that grew up racing his whole life and
wants to make a career out of this and do it at the highest level in
the Sprint Cup Series, this is, by far, probably the best opportunity
I’ve ever had to go and succeed at it and all the while doing it
driving the 43 car is pretty special.”

TAMPA TO DAYTONA IS ONLY ABOUT 130 MILES, BUT CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THIS
HUGE LEAP?  “Growing up in Tampa watching my grandfather race dirt
sprint cars all around Florida and the southeast and then myself, I
started racing go-karts when I was eight, so I’ve always been involved
in racing.  When I was racing go-karts we would go over to Daytona.
Every year right after Christmas they would have kart weeks there and
I would go and race my go-kart there at the municipal stadium on the
dirt oval.  Everytime we went we would go and watch the go-karts run
on the road course over at the big track.  I can remember being a
little kid driving over from Tampa to Daytona the night of Christmas,
because everything usually started in Daytona the day after Christmas,
so usually we’d open up our presents and hang out and do whatever
Christmas day and Christmas night we were driving to Daytona to go
race.  I remember being a kid and driving through that tunnel many a
times wondering how cool it would be to get on that race track and
race and not just to get on that race track and race, but to race in
the Daytona 500.  Now, I’ve had the opportunity to do that once
already, but to have that opportunity now with a team that’s committed
to run for a championship and to go and try to win races and for the
Daytona 500 to be our first shot at it, and to be able to do that in
the 43, I realize I make a lot of driving the 43, but, for me, it’s
really special just because I remember growing up as a kid watching
that and realizing how special that was to witness everything the King
did in that car.  So to have that opportunity is gonna be really neat
to go down to Daytona and be able to race in the Daytona 500 in the 43
car.”

BRIAN MOFFITT CONTINUED -- WHAT ARE YOUR REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS FOR
THIS YEAR?  “Our expectations and what we plan on moving forward with
is Top 20 and making the Chase this year.  We set our goals last year
with Marcos and AJ to be in the Top 20 and hopefully one of them make
the Chase or Top-15 and we actually hit that goal, and we expect the
same with Aric and Marcos going into this year.”

ARIC ALMIROLA CONTINUED – “Obviously, it’s gonna be my first year
running full-time in Cup, so there will be some growing pains.  I
realize that I’ve got a lot of learning to do.  I don’t expect to just
go out there and win six races and run for the championship, but I do
expect to be competitive.  I do expect to run really good on a regular
basis.  Their equipment is very capable of that.  I feel like Greg
Erwin is among the best in crew chiefs, so I don’t really see any
major reasons on why we shouldn’t be competitive.  Obviously, being a
rookie I’ll probably make my share of mistakes, but I don’t think from
a sense of speed and being competitive on the race track, I don’t see
any reason why we won’t be.  I  feel very confident that we’ll be
competitive and run up front and we’ll have some weekends that are
great and some weekends that are just okay, but, at the end of the
day, I feel like on a regular basis we should run competitively and
wherever that shakes out I’d love for it to be in the Top 15 and have
a shot at making the Chase, but the reality is that it is my first
year and if I go out there and run competitive and run in the Top Five
and do the things that I need to do as a driver and take care of my
race car and I’m there at the end of the races, the points will take
care of themselves.  I can’t really control that, so if I run good and
finish good, the results are gonna show for that.  If I finish bad
every weekend and crash and stuff, then I’m obviously not gonna be
where I want to be in the points, but if I drive these cars the way
they’re capable of running and finish where I feel like we’re capable
of finishing as a race team, I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t
be competitive and finish decent in the point standings.  Like Brian
said, Top 20, Top 15, and maybe even having a shot at getting in the
Chase.”

HOW IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH RICHARD PETTY?   “Richard is obviously
always around the garage area, so I’ve seen him around the garage a
lot.  He’s always been very friendly to me.  He’s always stopped and
shook my hand and talked to me.  My wife actually worked at Richard
Petty Motorsports at one time, so I got to spend some time with him at
that time and also with Brian and a lot of the people here at RPM, so
I feel like over the last several years I’ve known Richard.  I’ve been
over to his motorhome a time or two and sat down and had discussions
with him and when I got the opportunity to drive that 9 car for those
five races he was always around and would always lend a hand as far as
advice or tell me what he was thinking and also just being there
helping out whatever way he can help out.   I’ve always had a lot of
respect for him as a car owner and obviously as a driver.  He’s won
over 200 races, so I have a lot of respect for any input that he has
to give.”

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO GET TO THIS POSITION AFTER BEING IN AN EARLY
DIVERSITY DRIVER PROGRAM?  “It means a lot.  And I say that honestly.
It means a lot to me.  I was just home for Christmas and got to see
all my family and when I was over with my dad went and saw my
grandparents on my dad’s side of the family and they are the family
that came over from Cuba in ’66 on the freedom flights.  When I was
younger I didn’t really appreciate it.  I didn’t really think it meant
anything, but the older that I’ve gotten and to now pay my own bills
and now that I’m married and possibly thinking about having a family,
I understand a lot better what they went through when they gave up
everything they had.  They gave up their house, their cars.  My
grandmother gave up her wedding ring.  They gave everything back to
the Cuban government to come to America and to live the ‘American
Dream’ and to create a better life not only for themselves, but for
their family.  So I get to be living proof of that.  I get to drive a
race car for a living, so that means a lot to me – coming from where
my family has come from and the sacrifices that they have made to get
to the U.S., to create a better life for themselves and their family,
and then for me to be able to live out that dream that they had in
1966 when they decided to give everything back to the Cuban
government, that means a lot to me.  Like I said, I took that for
granted when I was a kid growing up.  I didn’t really think anything
of it, but the older I get the more that sinks in and I realize what a
huge sacrifice that was to leave everything that they knew to come
here to America and start over.”

WILL YOU RUN ANY NATIONWIDE OR TRUCK RACES?  “As of right now my sole
focus is to strictly run that 43 Cup car and do the best job I can in
that, so the answer to that would be ‘no’.

HOW WILL YOUR WORKOUT AND CONDITIONING CHANGE BASED ON THIS NEW RIDE
WHERE THE RACES ARE LONGER?  “Honestly, I feel like I’m in the best
shape I’ve ever been in my whole life.  Last year, being a part of
Junior Motorsports, I worked out with the strength and conditioning
coach at Hendrick Motorsports, so I’m gonna have to find a different
plan now, but I worked out with a strength and conditioning coach down
there, and I got a road bike and I’ve been riding my road bike two to
three days a week and I run quite often, so I feel like I’m in the
best shape that I’ve ever been in, and I stay in shape for me.  I stay
in shape because I want to be healthy and because I want to live a
longer life and I think that will help me.  And I feel better when I’m
healthy, but I think Tony Stewart is a proven example that you don’t
have to be in the best shape in the whole wide world to win races and
win a championship, so I don’t think that’s gonna be a key factor.  I
realize that the races are longer and the season is longer, but being
in shape is something that I do for me and I just enjoy working out,
and I enjoy riding my road bike and stuff like that.”

DO YOU HAVE A TARGET DISTANCE OR WEIGHT THAT YOU LIFT?  “Last year was
probably my best year in the weight room.  I worked out with weights
three days a week and I did cardio either two or three days a week,
plus the day in the race car I count as a cardio day, so I was doing
cardio three days a week solidly and lifting weights three days a week
solidly.  Last year, I thought I was doing pretty well.  I raised my
bench max to the highest that I ever had.  I think I benched 255 one
time, which I only weigh 165 pounds, so they say that if you can bench
your body weight that’s good, so I did a little bit more than my body
weight, and I squatted 320, so from a workout standpoint I got a lot
stronger last year than I ever have been.  I put on five pounds.  I
was 165 pounds at the beginning of last year and I’m up to like 171
right now, and my body fat has stayed very similar to what it was
going into last season, so that’s just six pounds of muscle.
Basically, I’m a lean mean fighting machine (laughing).”

HOW MUCH PRESSURE IS THERE TO PERFORM RIGHT AWAY?  “How many race car
drivers have you ever asked that question to and any of them gave you
the answer, ‘No, I don’t really feel that much pressure to perform.’
I’ve always put more pressure on myself than anybody else has ever put
on me.  I’m a very, very competitive person.  I don’t like to lose a
board game against my wife.  I don’t like to lose playing cards and I
don’t like to lose on the race track.  My competitive spirit comes out
when I’m on the race track and I don’t like to underperform by any
means, so I put more pressure on myself than anybody else can put on
me, so from that standpoint, I don’t feel like anybody at RPM or
anybody else is putting any pressure on me to go out and do something
that I don’t already put pressure on myself to go and do.”

EVEN THOUGH YOU WERE SET FOR THE YEAR, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING WHEN ALL
THESE CUP RIDES CAME OPEN SO LATE?  “I was content.  I thought going
into this year that over at Junior Motorsport after the year we had
last year that we would be able to win some races and contend for a
championship, but when this opportunity came up, like Brian said, they
sat down here at RPM and thought of their list of drivers they were
potentially looking at and my name was at the top of the list, so when
they called I was dealt a dilemma to stay where I was at, where I was
comfortable and where I felt like I had a home, or to take a chance
and go and make a career in the Cup Series.  Every race car driver, if
they tell you differently, they’re lying to you, every race car driver
wants to race in the Cup Series.  That’s just the fact of the matter.
Nobody wants to compete at a lower level.  Everybody wants to compete
at the highest level that they can possibly compete at and I’m the
same way, I’m no different.  I got offered the opportunity to compete
at the highest level in NASCAR with a great team that has very
competitive equipment, so that made the decision a lot easier.
Obviously, there are probably opportunities out there that I would
have gladly stayed at Junior Motorsports, but this opportunity with
this competitive equipment and this group of people was too hard to
turn down.” - rpm pr

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